Karri Makinen spent Saint Michael's College spring break working with migrant farm workers in Immokalee, Florida

2010 Apr 5

Karri Makinen, daughter of Ronald Makinen and Tammy Vittum of Walpole spent spring break with nine other Saint Michael’s College students doing service work in Immokalee Florida over spring break, March 13-21, through the college MOVE (Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts) service program. MOVE has been organizing service trips for students as an alternative to the usual spring break frolics for some 24 years now. Scores of additional Saint Michael’s students did service work in other locations around the country over the break.

Makinen, a junior biology major, graduated from Fall Mountain Regional High School before coming to Saint Michael's.

“This was an amazing experience for all of us,” said Dustin Hunter, the student group leader. “We got a much better sense of the reality of the lives of the migrant farm worker population,” he added. “We came back inspired to do more for a place that we really fell in love with.”

The students were surprised by an unexpected visit to Immokalee Friendship House by John Neuhauser, president of Saint Michael's College, who joined them for a tour and lunch.

The Immokalee group worked at the Immokalee Friendship House with migrant farm workers and their families; they served breakfasts and dinners, and went out to work for either Habitat for Humanity, or the Redlands Christian Migrant Association school. During the lunch hour, the students worked at the Guadalupe Center, sorting donated clothing, and getting to know the clients. In the afternoons, they worked at the Immokalee Parks & Recreation Afterschool Program, or at Immokalee Family & Housing Services. They also visited and worked with the Coalition of Immokalee Farm Workers.

“Wherever we were, we worked directly with immigrant and migrant farm workers and their children,” Hunter said. He said they were quite moved by the resilience and good spirits of these people.

Saint Michael’s Extended Service Corps allows student volunteers to travel domestically and internationally to engage in a wide variety of service projects over Christmas, spring break, long weekends and summer break. Within the United States, the service program sends students to repair homes, prepare meals, rehabilitate rescued animals, offer friendship to people who are homeless, and provide a nurturing atmosphere for exploited women and children. The hope is to increase awareness of global issues and to inspire local service. Domestic trips take students, faculty and staff as close as New York City and Hartford and as far as Big Thicket National Park in Texas, or Immokalee, Florida. The program sent scores of students this season, March 13-21, to service projects in Appalachia, Hartford, Conn; New York, and Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas.

Learn What Matters at Saint Michael’s College, The Edmundite Catholic liberal arts college, www.smcvt.edu. Saint Michael’s provides education with a social conscience, producing graduates with the intellectual tools to lead successful, purposeful lives that will contribute to peace and justice in our world. Founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, Saint Michael’s is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation’s Best 371 Colleges. It is one of 270 colleges and universities nationwide, and one of only 20 Catholic colleges, with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter. Saint Michael’s has 1,900 undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 100 international students. Saint Michael’s students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Pickering, Guggenheim, Fulbright, and other grants. The college is one of the nation’s Best Liberal Arts Colleges as listed in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings. Saint Michael’s is located just outside Burlington, Vermont, one of America’s top college towns.

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